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A spectacular aurora could be seen over Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Slovenia, Britain and other parts of Europe as the most powerful solar storm in more than two decades hit Earth on Friday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center said that ‘the first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – the ejection of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun – occurred just after 1600 GMT’
It was later downgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm – the first such storm since the so-called “Halloween storm” of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damage to power infrastructure in South Africa.
The agency said that several other coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are expected to hit Earth in the coming days.
Netizens posted photos of auroras from northern Europe and Australia.
Meanwhile, officials informed satellite operators, airlines and power grids to take precautionary measures for possible disruptions caused by changes in the Earth’s magnetic field.
Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in about eight minutes, CMEs travel at a much slower speed, with officials currently averaging 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.
They originated from a giant sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. The Sun is reaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings increased activity.
Matthew Owens, a professor of space physics, told AFP that although the impacts would be felt largely across the planet’s northern and southern latitudes, how far they would spread would depend on the storm’s ultimate strength.
“My advice is to go out tonight and see because if you see the aurora, it’s a pretty spectacular thing,” he said. If people have eclipse glasses, they can look for the sunspot cluster even during the day.
In the United States, this could include places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.
(With inputs from AFP)
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Published: May 11, 2024, 08:30 am IST
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